Oil and gas burner



22, 1936. J. HEINZEL OIL AND GAS BURNER Filed Aug. 23, 1932 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Jaszm 1Y5 N251.

45 a 1 I ATTORNEY Bum courkouzn.

J. HEINZEL OIL AND GAS BURNER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 23, 1932INVENTOR J05Pll /9//A/ZL BY v A TTORIIVEY Dec. 22, 1936.

Patented Dec. 22, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application August23,

4 Claims.

. The present invention relates to oil and gas burners of a new andimproved type andparticularly to burners operating under a naturaldraft.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved oil and gasburner wherein combustion of a high degree of eficiency is obtained andwherein very high gas temperatures are secured. It is also an object ofthe invention to provide a burner which is so constructed thatpractically no carbon is deposited and the fuel is provided with anoptimum quantity of air such that it burns with a continuous white flameof very high temperature which is capable of bringing the pressure in aboiler to a maximum within a very short time. It is a further object ofthe invention to provide a burner which is simple and inexpensive inconstruction and reliable and eflicient in operation.

Other objects of the invention will appear from" the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings whichillustrate by way of example a preferred embodiment of the invention. Insaid drawings- Fig. 1 is a view in elevation, partly in section of aboiler equipped with my improved oil and gas burner;

Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through the burner;

' Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the upper plate forming part of theburner and illustrates the damper control mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the oil groove or well, the top plate beingremoved; and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

The burner is illustrated in Fig. 1 as being mounted upon the gratesupport ll] of a boiler l I of any known or suitable construction, theboiler having the usual fire door l2, water gauge l3, pressure gauge IE,and damper Hi.

The burner rests upon a plate l6 which lies upon the grate support ID,the plate being provided with a central aperture ll, but beingimperforate from such aperture to the periphery thereof. The burnercomprises a bottom plate 18 whose outer edge portion may be directedupwardly to produce a dished efiect as shown at I9 for a purpose to beset forth hereinafter. annular member 20 is attached to the plate [8, asby means of screws 2|. Upon the upper surface of the member 20 isprovided an annular groove 2m to which oil is fed in the manner to bedescribed hereinbelow.

In order to insure uniform distribution of the 1932, Serial No. 630,031

air which is drawn upwardly through the member 20 irrespective of thedirection of the draft, I provide an air distributing plate [801. ofsmaller diameter than the internal diameter of the member 20, therebycreating an annular passageway 35 through which the air is compelled toflow as it rises from the pit 36 (Fig. 1) of the boiler. The air thusreaches the top of member 20 in the form of an annular stream which isdistributed substantially uniformly about such member. The airdistributing plate is supportedfromlugs 31 cast integral with the member20 and is secured to the lugs by screws 31a (Fig. 5).

The following mechanism is provided to deflect the air upon thevaporized oil rising from the well 2| and to control the size of theflame.

The central portion of the plate I801. has a boss 22 into which isthreaded a post 23 carrying at its upper end a block 24. The blocksupports a deflecting or top plate 25 whose central portion isdepressed, as shown at 26, to receive the block. The plate 25 isthreaded to receive a screw 21 which enters a non-threaded bore 28 inthe block 24, so that upon rotation of the screw 21 the plate 25 israised or lowered. The plate 25 is guided in its vertical movements bythe engagement of the walls of its depressed portion 26 with the outersurface of the block 24. This plate 25 serves to deflect the stream ofair coming from the passageway 35 toward the well 21 and aids in themixing of the vaporized'oil with air. The plate 25 forms with the member20 a burner nozzle whose discharge opening may be regulated byadjustment of the screw 21. A locknut 29 may serve to lock the plate inadjusted position.

The oil is fed to the well 2la through a plurality of pipes 30 whichcommunicate through T- connections 3| with a header 32 from which extendtubular elements 33 which are connected by suitable pipe connectionswith the Ts 3|. The latter may be provided with drain plugs 34 uponremoval of which the pipes 30 may be cleaned. Four feed pipes 30 areillustrated on the drawings, but it is evident that a larger or smallernumber may be employed as may be found suitable or necessary.

The pipes 30 pass through the air passage 35, the plate 18a beingsuitably recessed as shown at 38 to accommodate such pipes. As will beseen from Fig. 2, the air entering the passage enters a space 39 betweenthe plate l8a and the upper horizontal portion of the member 20, andthence passes through the central opening of such member, whereupon itis deflected by the plate 25 toward the Well 2|, where it mixes andcarries with it the oil vapors rising therefrom.

The combustion of oil is initiated with the aid of one or more pilotlights emanating from one or more gas burners 40 whose outer ends arebent in such manner as to direct the flame upon the oil in the well 2!.The discharge end of each of the gas burners 4%] is flattened andwidened in order to cover a large arc of the well 2 l. The pipes 45 areeach soldered into a nipple 4! which passes through an opening in theplate Ilia, and is provided with a collar 41a which engages the upperface of the plate. The nipples are externally threaded and are clampedupon the plate I80, by nuts Mb. By means of unions 42a the nipples 4|are connected with pipes 42 running from a gas header 43 which isconnected by a pipe 44 with the gas main. If desired, the post 23 may bemade in the form of a pipe connected with the gas pipe 44, the gasburners being then connected with the pipe 23 above the plate lBa. Aswill be seen from Fig. 2, the inner edge 45 of the well 2| is higherthan the outer edge 46. Due to such construction, any excess of oil thatmaybe fed to the well flows over the edge 46 onto the plate l8, fromwhich it is withdrawn by a pipe 41 which leads to a controller 48.Ordinarily, however, only enough oil is fed to cover the bottom of thewell, the rate of feed being suitably adjusted to the rate at which theoil is evaporated. To the controller 48 are connected also the gas pipe44 and the oil pipe 49 leading to the oil header 32. The controller 48is of any known construction and is suitably connected with a thermostat(not shown) through which the burner is controlled. If desired, the oiland gas lines may be provided with hand valves for manual operation.

In the normal operation of my device, assuming that automatic controlisemployed and that the thermostat has closed an electric control circuitupon fall of the temperature to a pre-determined' minimum, a gas valvein the controller 48 is opened so that the gas burners 40 direct anumber of large gas flames against the oil in the well 2! and therebypreheat and ignite the latter. After three or four minutes, thecontroller automatically turns down the gas valve and opens the oilvalve, which then feeds oil in a constant stream through the pipe 49 anddistributing pipes to the well 2|. The natural draft of the boilercauses air to pass in an annular stream through the passage 35, the airthen passing upwardly and being deflected by the plate 25 against thehot oil in the well 2|. In this way the air mixes with the oil vaporsand the jet of flame issues from between the outer edge 46 of the members 20, and the outer edge of the top plate 25. The

outer edge of the latter plate is directed downwardly, as shown at 50 inFig. 2, and the plate is of smaller diameter than the outside diameterof the edge portion 46 to cause the air to penetrate the stream ofvaporized oil to thereby mix thoroughly with the same and producecomplete sageway through which the oil pipes 30 pass. By sucharrangement, the narrow annular stream of air flowing upwardly throughthe passageway 35 cools the oil pipes and the walls of the oil well,thus preventing carbonization and clogging of such oil pipes and oilwell.

In order to adjust the quantity of air flowing over the heated oil so asto obtain the mixture most suitable for efficient combustion, I providemechanism whereby part of the air may be shunted or deflected away fromthe oil in the well 2|. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated,

such mechanism comprises a plate 5| provided with openings 52 which areadapted to register to a greater or less extent with openings 53 in theplate 25. The plate 5i is centrally apertured to fit over the depressedportion 26 of the plate 25 and is guided upon the plate 25 by means of ascrew and slot connection 54. Upwardly extending tabs 55 may be providedupon the plate 5| to facilitate manual engagement thereof. By suitableadjustment of the plate 5|, a controlled quantity of air may be causedto flow upwardly through the plates 25 and 5| without aiding in thecombustion of the fuel. In this way the proper amount of air for mostefficient combustion can be fed to the heated oil upon the member 20.

If desired only one pilot light may be employed, but I prefer to use anumber of them so that in the event that the supply of oil is exhausted,the boiler may be heated with gas by means of the pipes 40.

While I have shown my improved burner as of circular form in plan view,it is obvious that it may be built in various outlines, although Iprefer to employ the circular or oval form the expression closedcurvilinear outline" in the claims beingintended to include both suchforms.

It willbe obviousthat it is not absolutelyessential that the burner, ormore specifically, the nozzle formed by the plate 25 and member 20,extend for 360"; if desired, such nozzle may be of bowed or arcuate formfor less than 360, in which event the parts are preferably so designedthat the air passageway 35 extends only along the length of the wellZia.

I If desired, my improved burner may be employed solely as a gas burner,in which event, the Well 2 la and piping connected therewith aredispensed with. I have found that the annular or, where the nozzle isnot in the form of a closed ring, arcuate stream of air is soefliciently distributed throughout the nozzle 20, 50 and mixes sothoroughly with the gas fed by the burners that an exceedingly hot flameis obtained. It will be noted that the air is not mixed with the gasbefore it is discharged by the gas pipes or burners 4B, but mixestherewith only after such discharge. In this way I secure not only moreefiicient combustion, but avoid the danger of backfire into the pipes40.

My improved burner is characterized by extreme simplicity and smallnumber of parts which can be readily manufactured on a large scale andat low cost. It operates efliciently under a natural draft and with verylittle noise. It is characterized further by the practical absence ofcarbon, either no carbon being formed, or if anyis deposited, the sameis subsequently burned. Thus I have found that after many hours ofoperation, the plate 25 is free of any deposit of carbon, the platebeing kept cool by the stream of air flowing thereagainst.

I claim;

1. An oil burner comprising a hollow member of closed curvilinearoutline having a groove in the top surface thereof for distributing oilalong the length of such member, said member being open at its top andbottom to provide a passageway for air therethrough, a conduit openinginto said groove from below the groove for feeding oil thereinto, adistributing plate positioned within said member and dimensioned toprovide a narrow annular channel for air between itself and said memberalong the periphery of such plate, a deflecting plate overlying saidmember and spaced vertically therefrom to form a burner nozzletherewith, the outer edge of said last-mentioned plate being curveddownwardly to direct the stream of air rising from said channel towardthe top surface of said member and terminating short of the outer edgeof said member, a pilot burner supported within said member so as to beswept by the current of air passing therethrough and directing apre-heating and igniting flame upon the body of liquid fuel in saidgroove, and a pipe connected with said pilot burner to feed gas thereto.

2; A burner as set forth in claim 1 wherein the fuel conduit passesthrough the air passageway between the distributing plate and the hollowmember, such conduit being thus swept by air and thereby cooled.

3. A burner as set forth in claim 1 wherein the upper portion of thehollow member has an inwardly extending flange which overlies the airpassageway between the distributing plate and the portion of such memberbelow such flange, said fuel conduit passing upwardly through said airpassageway, so as to be cooled by the upward- 1y flowing air, andopening into the bottom of said groove from below.

4. A burner as set forth in claim 1 wherein the first-mentioned plate isprovided with a series of apertures through which a portion of the aircan be deflected away from the zone of combustion between such plate andthe top of the hollow member, and means for controlling said aperturesto regulate the amount of air that is deflected.

JOSEPH HEINZEL.

